


What Happens After God Is Dead?

by bum_bum_bumblebeecas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Set After God Is Dead, Set After Season 15, The Supernatural Is Gone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 16:13:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20294326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bum_bum_bumblebeecas/pseuds/bum_bum_bumblebeecas
Summary: Dean watched Jack kill Chuck. With the death of God came the death of the supernatural. Some vanished, and some have lost its powers. People are waking up and discovering that God was forcing them into the rolls that they have been playing.This is the story of how Dean learns to cope with discovering who he is, who he was, and what was forced onto him - as well as the things that Chuck forced to say hidden in the deepest part of himself. This is the story of how Dean learns to live a life where he has complete free will.





	1. The Change

Things changed in Dean after he watched Jack kill Chuck.

It started with a moment of recognition. He stood there looking at Jack from across the open field. The bright celestial light fading from Jack’s eyes. He watched Jack drop his hands to his sides and his face relax. He looked at the boy that he had felt so much hatred and anger towards just moments ago, and he realized he was wrong.

At the time Dean had thought the reason for his contempt towards Jack fading away was because Jack had redeemed himself by stopping Chuck and saving them from fates so awful – fates they couldn’t possibly conceive.

As it turned out, what was happening was that, with the death of God came everyone’s true selves. Without God there to write out every thought, emotion, action, and fate of each person, people started to form their own personality. It was true free will.

Chuck wasn’t there to force these feeling onto Dean. The change in Dean was all of the things that Chuck had written in the cards for him were starting to fade away, and the things that were truly him were becoming clearer.

Dean would think back on things he had said and done, and he would be able to tell if that was him or if it was Chuck.

He was angry.

For so long Dean had fought for free will and had thought that it was him fighting. He thought he had control over himself. He used to hate the thought that he was just a puppet and Chuck was pulling the strings. But he was.

There were big moments where Dean knew that it was him. When he fought and surprised even himself… that was Dean.

Big decisions, though? A lot of those were Chucks doing. He realized that his interest in hunting from a young age wasn’t him.

Another thing that started happening after the fall of the Great and Almighty God, was that the supernatural quickly became lost. Rowena shouted after Chuck fell to his knees. It was a loud sob as she cried out, “it’s gone! My magic is gone!”

She fell to her knees as well. Everything that she was for centuries was taken away from her.

The light that was fading from Jack’s eyes happened because angels lost their powers. They were no longer God’s warriors because their God was no longer with them.

Later Castiel would explain exactly how The Change felt from the position of an angel that had lived for millenniums. He would explain how it felt in a literal sense of having who he was drain from his body so completely, in a way that he realized that even when he was human, he was still an angle. That it was Chuck who took his powers and gave him the title of a human, but that it was all artificial. He would explain how it felt in a sense of recognition – of who he really was, how he had always truly felt deep down.

Demons and ghosts, the sort of creatures that were fully supernatural, those all vanished. They didn’t see it happen, so they didn’t know how (and for a long time they didn’t fully trust that they were gone), but whatever way it happened, it was permanent.

Angels, witches, vampires, werewolves, they survived. Magic, fangs, and claws, those were all gone but who they were beneath survived.

Dean had come across a werewolf once after The Change. He had known the guy as one of the few that got away. When they caught each other’s eye in the bar they were at they froze. Both waiting for the other to attack.

After a long moment, the man approached.

Dean held his hand over his gun and waited to see what was going to happen.

The man took the stool next to Dean and he ordered a beer.

Later that night he explained in detail the horrors he did. He explained that he knew that God had forced emotions onto him that were sick and depraved. He explained how after The Change he wanted to kill himself for remembering what it was like to enjoy killing humans and eating their hearts.

He wasn’t one of the strong ones.

The people that Dean had come across, they all knew what was forced onto them, even the humans who didn’t know that the supernatural had existed before The Change. Somehow, some of them were able to fight some of the things that wanted to push its way into them.

Castiel explained that was how free will became a concept. He said that ironically it was Cain that gave the human population free will. He did it the first time he didn’t enjoy a kill after he became a knight of hell. God wanted him to cause great terror and enjoy it, and he did for a long time, but gradually the strongest parts of his true self broke through and prevented him from enjoying it at times.

Castiel said that he was one of the strongest, because Cain was a big part of Chucks plans. Unlike regular humans who didn’t have the largest impact on the story Chuck was creating, Cain was someone who God put more pressure on from deep within. So, because he was able to fight that, it showed the greatest strength.

Castiel admitted that he admired Cain for being the first to do such a thing. He also later admitted that it was Dean that he admired the most, because as a direct link of God, Castiel knew that he had never put greater pressure on anyone than he did on Sam and Dean. He also knew that no one had pushed back harder than Dean had.

Castiel was a mystery to Dean at first. If the demons had died, he would have thought that Castiel would have died too. It only made sense that the bodies that had been possessed were freed. The ones that didn’t have too much damage lived, but he had also seen reports of people dropping dead the day of The Change, where in the coroner’s reports it was explained that the people had injuries from months or years ago that should have killed them.

But there Castiel was, still alive.

It kind of made sense that Jack lived, because it was his own body. He wasn’t possessing some poor son of a bitch like Castiel or any of the other angels and demons were.

Dean questioned it a lot at first. He thought it was proof that this was another game that Chuck was playing. That it meant that he was stuck in some sort of world that Chuck created just like how Gabriel used to do, or like how djinn would do.

He even considered that Gabriel was playing a trick on him.

After years he would fully accept the life, but it wasn’t until Dean drew his last breath that he knew that it was real.


	2. Six Months Later

When Dean woke up, he felt a sudden dread. He knew that after today everything would change.

Parts of him were still confused. Parts of him wanted to keep fighting. But other parts… the parts of him that were real, that knew that none of this is what he ever truly wanted. It’s what he grew to accept.

Sam gave him six months. He told Dean that they had six months where they would try to find proof of the supernatural again. If they found it they would continue hunting until the end. If they didn’t…? Well, if it was true. If the supernatural world truly vanished, then they would hang their coats and their hats and they would find their true passions.

They would finally get to live like normal human beings.

No more worries about what goes bump in the night. No more watching over their shoulders. No more blood and guts and fangs. They would be free.

Dean wanted that more than anything. The more he thought about it the more he knew that what he really wanted was to settle down.

After Chuck died Dean started to dream about a life that he really wanted. He dreamt of buying a house and fixing it up to be his. He dreamt of owning a bar and making it something different and special. He dreamt of being able to provide for his brother, Cas, and Jack. Of being able to support what ever they want to make of their new lives.

But when Dean was awake, he was afraid. He feared that this new beautiful reality would be ripped from his hands.

So, he searched harder than he had ever searched before. He went out into every small town within a night’s driving distance and looked extensively into their current status on the supernatural.

He sat in the dim lights of the bunker’s library researching like he had never done before. He stared at his computer until his eyes teared up.

But six months came and went without a single clue, and he knew. This was it. This was the end.

~

He didn’t pack. Sam had told Dean over and over again to pack his things.

Sam walked into the kitchen the night before and while Dean stared at his computer and reminded him that they would be leaving at noon the next day.

Dean grunted and continued his work.

He used up every second he possibly could.

It really wasn’t that he wanted to find something. It was that he wanted to really make sure that there was nothing to find before he changed his whole life.

And there he was. His final day in the bunker and he hadn’t packed a single thing.

Dean didn’t even know what to pack.

He knew he should bring the essentials. He didn’t have much so it wouldn’t be hard to get that all together.

But should he bring more?

There was so much information in the bunker that went untouched. Would he be needing those things?

It didn’t really matter anymore did it?

A knock at Dean’s door pulled him from his thoughts.

Castiel opened the door without waiting for a response.

“Dean, Jack made breakfast.”

Dean groaned, “I don’t know why that kid keeps cooking. I’m gonna get sick off the food he makes. He doesn’t know how to cook.”

Castiel walked further into the room, “I think he just wants to make you happy. He’s trying to be like you, Dean. Give him time. He’ll figure out how to cook pancakes all the way through.”

Dean chortled. “Sure.” He’d probably have to teach Jack how to properly cook.

“You haven’t packed,” Castiel observed.

“I don’t have much. It’ll take me a couple minutes.”

“The van is getting here at 10.” Dean nodded his acknowledgement and sat down on his bed. “Have you found a place to stay?”

“Uhh… I haven’t really thought abo-”

“Sam found a small apartment a couple miles from here. He also found a job.”

“Did he?” Dean felt a little ashamed that he hadn’t been paying enough attention to his own brother in the past few months enough to know that he got a job.

“Yeah, he’s going to be temping at a law firm.” Castiel smiled softly at Dean. Ever since The Change, Castiel had been acting more human. More than he did when he lost his grace before. Dean still found it odd to see genuine human expressions on Castiel’s face.

“Do you know what you’ll be doing?”

“I found a house near Sam’s apartment. It’s a few blocks away. It needs work, but I figured with Jack and I, we can get it done. I also found an accounting job. I used Jimmy’s name. Apparently, he worked as an accountant for a short time, so I used that as an advantage.”

“That’s great.” Dean knew he didn’t sound as enthusiastic as Castiel might have been hoping for.

“Jack found a job too. He’s going to be a dishwasher at the restaurant next to where I will be working.”

Dean chuckled, “the kid who killed God is going to be a fucking dishwasher. What a world we live in.”

“Dean.”

“Sorry.”

Castiel watched Dean for a moment.

“You know, you can always come and stay with us for as long as you want.”

Dean stared at the floor as he nodded.

Castiel sighed. He walked towards Dean and sat beside him. He still wasn’t the best with personal space. For some odd reason that was a comfort to Dean. With everything being so different, at least the small things stayed the same.

“I know, Dean. I know. But Jack, and even Sam… they look up to you. You’ve always been the one that they look to.”

“I’m not the man they thought I was.”

“None of us are.”

Dean looked to Castiel, his blue eyes focused on Dean, and he nodded. “You said something about your new house needing work?”

Castiel smiled.


End file.
